JK 4725 
1868 

.P6 
Copy 1 



I LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. % 



Chap. 
Shelf 



UNITED STATES 



6f aimer 



/ C^NSTITU 









[ANA, / 



MARCH 7% 1868. 



Printed by the New Oriean3 Republican, in accordance with a resolution of 
the Constitutional Convention, adopted March 7th, 1868. 






NEW ORLEANS : 

PRINTED AT THE REPUBLICAN OFFICE, 57 ST. CHARLES STREET, 

1S68. 



V 



\ 



PREAMBLE. 



We, the people of Louisiana, in order to establish justice, insure domestic 
tranquillity, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty 
to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution. 



CONSTITUTION 



TITLE L— BILL OP RIGHTS. 

Article 1. — All men are created free and equal, and have certain inalien- 
able rights ; among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. 
To secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving 
their just powers from the consent of the governed. 

Art. 2. — All persons, without regard to race, color, or previous condition, 
born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction 
thereof, and residents of this State for one year, are citizens of this State. 
The citizens of this State owe allegiance to the United States ; and this 
allegiance is paramount to that which they owe to the State. They shall 
enjoy the same civil, political, and public rights and privileges, and be 
subject to the same pains and penalties. 

Art. 3. — Thero shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in this 
State, otherwise than for the punishment of crime, whereof the party shall 
have been duly convicted. 

Art. 4. — The press shall be free ; every citizen may freely speak, write 
and publish his sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse 
of this liberty. 

Art. 5. — The right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the 
Government, or any department thereof, shall never be abridged. 

Art. 6. — Prosecutions shall be by indictment or information. The accused 
shall be entitled to a speedy public trial by an impartial jury of the parish 
in which the offence was committed, unless the venue be changed. Ho 
shall not be compelled to give evidence against himself ; he shall have the 
right of being heard by himself or counsel ; he shall have the right of 
meeting the witnesses face to face, and shall have compulsory process for 
obtaining witnesses in his favor. He shall not be tried twice for the 
same offense. 

Art. 7. — All persons shall be bailable by sufficient securities, unless for 
capital offenses where the proof is evident, or the presumption great, or 
unless after conviction, for any crime or offense punishable with death or 
imprisonment at hard labor. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus 
shali not be suspended. 

Art. 8. — Excessive bail shali not be required ; excessive fines shall not 
be imposed; nor cruel or .unusual punishments inflicted. 

Art. 9. — The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, 
papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be 
violated ; and no warrant shall issue but upon probable cause, supported 
by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place te be searched, 
or the person or things to be seized. 



4 COTSTXTTTTIOK CF THE 

Art. 10. — All courts shall be open ; and every person for injury done 
him in his land, goods, person or reputation, shall have adequate remedy 
by due process of law, and justice administered without denial or unrea- 
sonable delay. 

Art. 11. — No law shall be passed fixing* the price of manual labor. 

Art. 12. — Every person has the natural right to worship God according 
to the dictates of his conscience. No religious test shall be required as a 
qualification for office. 

Art. 13. — All persons shall enjoy equal rights and privileges upon any 
conveyance of a public character; and all places of business, or of public 
resort, or for which a license is required by either State, parish or munici- 
pal authority, shall be deemed places of a public character, and shall be 
opened to the accommodation and patronage of all persons, without dis- 
tinction or discrimination on account of race or color. 

Art. 14. — The rights enumerated in this Title shall not be construed to 
limit or abridge other rights of the people not herein expressed. 

ARTICLE II.— LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

Art. 15.— The Legislative power of the State shall be vested in two 
distinct branches : the one to be styled the House of Eepresentatives, the 
other the Senate ; and. both, the General Assembly of the State of 
Louisiana. 

Art. 16. — The members of the House of Eepresentatives shall continue 
in office for two years from the day of the closing of the general elections. 

Art. 1*1. — Eepresentatives shall be chosen on the first Monday in Novem- 
ber, every two years ; and the election shall be completed in one day. 
The General Assembly shall meet annually on the first Monday in January, 
unless a different day be appointed by law ; and their sessions shall be 
held at the seat of government. 

Art. 18. — Every elector under this Constitution shall be eligible to a 
seat in the House of Eepresentatives • and every elector who has reached 
the age of twenty-five years shall be eligible to the Senate : Provided, 
That no person shall" be a Eepresentative or Senator unless at the time of 
his election he be 7 a qualified elector of the Eepresentative or Senatorial 
District from which he is elected. 

Art. 19. — Elections for members of the General Assembly shall be held 
at the several election precincts established by law. 

Art. 20. — Eepresentation in the House of Eepresentatives shall be equal 
and uniform ; and after the first General Assembly elected under this 
Constitution shall be ascertained and regulated by the total population, 
each parish in the State being entitled to at least one Eepresentative. A 
census of the State by State authority shall be taken in the year eighteen 
hundred and seventy-five, and every ten years thereafter. In case of 
informality, omission, or error in the census returns from any parish or 
election district, the General Assembly may order a new census taken in 
such parish or election district ; but until the State census of eighteen 
hundred and seventy-five the apportionment of the State shall be made on 
the basis of the census of the United States for the year eighteen hundred 
and seventy. 

Art. 21. — The General Assembly at the first session after the making 
of each enumeration shall apportion the representation amongst the several 
parishes and representative districts, on the basis of the total population, 
as aforesaid. A representative number shall be fixed, and each parish and 
representative district shall have as many Eepresentatives as the number 
of its total population will entitle it to have ; and an additional represent- 
ative for any fraction exceeding one-half of the representative number. The 



STATE OF LOTnSIABA. 



5 



number of Representatives shall never exceed one hundred and twenty, nor 
he less than ninety. 

Art. 22. — Until an apportionment shall be made in accordance with the 
provisions of article twenty, the representation in the Senate and House of 
Representatives shall be as follows : 
For the parish of Orleans : 

First Representative District Two 

Second " ' ; 

Third 

Fourth ; - •' .. 



Thi 
Four 
Two 
Two 
One 
Two 
One 
Two 
Three 
One 
Two 
Two 



Fifth - : - 

Sixth 

Seventh " " 

Eighth - " 

Ninth '• " 

Tenth 

Orleans, right bank 

Ascension 

Assumption. 

Avoyelles Two 

Baton Rouge, East Three 

Baton Rouge, West One 

Bienville One 

Bossier Two 

Caddo Three 

Calcasieu , One 

Caldwell One 

Carroll Two 

Catahoula One 

Claiborne Two 

Concordia Two 

DeSoto Two 

Feliciana, East Two 

Feliciana, West One 

Franklin One 



Iberville Two 

Jackson One 

Jefferson Four 

Lafayette One 

Lafourche Two 

Livingston. One 

Madison One 

Morehouse One 

Natchitoches Two 

Ouachita Two 

Plaquemines One 

Pointe Coupee Two 

Rapides Three 

Sabine One 

St. Bernard One 

St. Charles One 

St. Helena One 

St. James Two 

St. John Baptist One 

St. Landry Four 

St. Martin , Two 

St. Mary Two 

St. Tammany One 

Tensas Two 

Terrebonne Two 

Union One 

Vermillion One 

Washington One 

Winn One 



Total, one hundred and one. 

And the State shall be divided into the following Senatorial Districts, 
to wit : 

The First, Second, and Third Representative Districts of New Orleans 
shall form one Senatorial District, and elect three Senators. 

The Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Representative Districts of New Orleans 
shall form one District, and elect two Senators. 

The Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Representative Districts of New Or- 
leans and the parish of St. Bernard, shall form one District, and elect two 
Senators. 

The Tenth Representative District of New Orleans shall form one Dis- 
trict, and elect one Senator. 

Orleans, Right Bank, and the parish of Plaquemines shall form one Dis- 
trict, and elect one Senator. 

The parishes of Jefferson, St. Charles, and St. John Baptist shall form 
©ne District, and elect two Senators. 

The parishes of Ascension and St. James shall form one Distriet, and 
elect one Senator. 

The parishes of Assumption, Lafourche, and Terrebonne shall form one 
District, and elect two Senators. 

The parishes of Vermillion and St. Mary shall form one District, and 
elect one Senator. 

The parishes of Calcasieu, Lafayette, and St. Landry shall form one Dis- 
trict, and elect two Senators. 

The parishes of Livingston, St. Helena, Washington, and St. Tammany 
shall form one District, and elect one Senator. 



6 CONSTITUTION OF THE 

Tlie parishes of Point Coupee, East Feliciana, and West Feliciana shall 
form one District, and elect two Senators. 

The parish of East Baton Rouge shall form one District, and elect one 
Senator. 

The parishes of West Baton Rouge, Iberville, and St. Martin shall form 
one District, and elect two Senators. 

The parishes of Concordia and Avoyelles shall form one District, and 
elect one Senator. 

The parishes of Tensas and Franklin shall form one District, and elect 
one Senator. 

The parishes of Carroll, Madison, and Morehouse shall form one District, 
and elect two Senators. 

The parishes of Ouachita and Caldwell shall form one District, and elect 
one Senator. * 

The parishes of Jackson and Union shall form one District, and elect 
one Senator. 

The parishes of Bossier, Bienville, and Claiborne shall form one District, 
and elect two Senators. 

The parish of Caddo shall form one District, and elect one Senator. 

The parishes of DeSoto, Natchitoches, and Sabine shall form one District, 
and elect two Senators. 

The parish of Rapides shall form one District, and elect one Senator. 

The parishes of Catahoula and Winn shall form one District, and elect 
one Senator. 

Thirty-six Senators in all. 

Art. 23. — The House of Representatives shall choose its Speaker and 
other officers. 

Art. 24. — Electors in all cases except treason, felony, or breach of the 
peace, shall be privileged from arrest during their attendance on, going to, 
and returning from elections. 

Art. 25 — At its first session under this Constitution, the General Assem- 
bly shall provide by law, that the names and residence of all qualified 
electors shall be registered, in order to entitle them to vote ; but the 
registry shall be free of cost to the elector. 

Art. 26. — No person shall be entitled to vote at any election held in this 

" tate, except in the parish of his residence, and at the election precinct in 

he is registered: Provided, That no voter in removing from one 

parish o another, shall lose the right to vote in the former, until he has 

acquired it in the latter. 

Art. 2T. — The members of the Senate shall be elected for the term of four 
years; and when assembled, the Senate shall have power to choose its 
own officers, except as hereinafter provided. 

Art. 23. — The General Assembly shall divide the State in Senatorial 
Districts whenever it apportions representation in the House of Repre- 
sentatives. 

Art. 29. — No parish shall be divided in the formation of a Senatorial 
District, the parish of Orleans excepted ; and wjieuever a new parish 
shall be created, it shall be attached to the Senatorial District from which 
most of its territory is taken, or to another contiguous district, at the 
discretion of the General Assembly; but shall not be attached to more 
than one district. The number of Senators shall be thirty-six; and they 
shall be apportioned among the Senatorial Districts according to the total 
population of said districts. 

t. 30. — In all apportionments of the Senate, the total population of the 
State shall be divided by the number thirty-six, and the result produced 
by this division shall be the Senatorial ratio entitling a Senatorial District 
to a Senator. 



BTATE OF LOUISIANA. 7 

Single or contiguous parishes shall be formed into districts having o 
population the ne ble to the number entitling a district to a 

Senator; and if the apportionment to make a parish or district fall short 
of, or exceed the ral io, then a district may be formed having not more than 
two Senators; bat not otherwise. No new apportionment shall have the 
effect of abridging the term of service of any Senator already elected at 
the time of making the apportionment. After an enumeration has been 
made, as directed in the twentieth Article, the General Assembly shall not 
pass any law, till an apportionment of reprepresentation in both houses of 
the General Assembly be made. 

Akt. 31. — At the first .session of the General Assembly, after this Consti- 
tution goes into effect, the Senators shall be divided equally by lot into 
two classes; the se ts i f the, Senators of the first class to be vacated at 
the expiration of the term of the first House of Representatives.; those oi 
the second class at the expiration of the term of the second House of Rep- 
resentatives; so that one-half shall be chosen every two years successively. 
When a district shall have elected two Senators, their respective terms of 
office shall be determined by lot between themselves. 

Art. 32. — The first election for Senators shall be held at the same time 
with the election for Representatives ; and thereafter there shall be elec- 
tions of Senators at the same time with each general election of Represen- 
tatives, to fill the places of those Senators whose term of office may have 
expired. 

Art. 33. — Not less than a majority of the members of each House of the 
General Assembly shall form a quorum to transact business; but a smaller 
number may adjourn from day to day, and shall have full power to <■• 
the attendance of absent members. 

Art. 34. — Each house of the General Assembly shall judge of the - 
fications, election and returns of its members; but a contested election 
shall be determined in such manner as may be prescribed by law. 

Art. 35. — Bach house of the General Assembly may determine the rules 
of its proceedings, punish a member for disorderly conduct, and with a 
concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member; but not a second time for the 
same offense. 

Art. 36. — Each house of the General Assembly shall keep and publish 
weekly, a journal of its proceedings ; and the yeas and nays of the mem- 
bers on any question, at the desire of any two of them, shall be entered 
on the journal. 

Art. 3T. — Each house may punish by imprisonment, any person not a 
member, for disrespect and disorderly behavior in its presence, or for ob- 
structing any of its proceedings ; such imprisonment shall not exceed ten 
days for any one offense. 

Art. 38. — Neither house shall adjourn for more than three days, nor to 
any other place than that in which it may be sitting, during the sessions of 
the General Assembly, without the consent of the other. 

Art. 39. — The members of the General Assembly shall receive from the 
public treasury a compensation for their services, which shall be eight 
dollars per day during their attendance, going to and returning from the 
sessions of their respective houses. This compensation may be increased, 
or diminished by law, but no alteration shall take effect during the period. 
of service of the members of the House of Representatives by which such 
alteration shall have been made. No session shall extend beyond the 
period of sixty days, to date from its commencement ; and any legislative 
action bad after the expiration of said period of sixty days shall be hull 
and void ; but the first General Assembly that shall convene after the 
adoption of this Constitution, may continue in session for one hundred and 
twenty days. 



H CONSTITUTION OP THE 

Art. 40. — The members of the General Assembly, in all cases except 
treason, felony, or breach of the peace, shall be privileged from arrest 
during their attendance at the sessions of their respective houses, and 
going to or returning from the same ; and for any speech or debate in 
either house shall not be questioned in any other place. 

Art. 41. — No Senator or Representative during the term for which he 
was elected, nor for one year thereafter, shall be appointed to any civil 
office of profit under this State which shall have been created, or the 
emoluments of which may have been increased, during the time such Sen- 
ator or Representative was in office. 

Art.; 42. — No bill shall have the force of a law until on three several 
days it be read in each House of the General Assembly, and free discus- 
sion allowed thereon, unless four-fifths of the House where the bill is pend- 
ing may deem it expedient to dispense with this rule. 

Art. 43. — All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House ~of 
Representatives ; but the Senate may propose amendments, as in other 
bills: Provided, It shall not introduce any matter under the color of an 
amendment which does not relate to raising revenue. 

Art. 44. — The General Assembly shall regulate by whom and in what 
manner writs of election shall be issued to fill the vacancies which may 
occur in either branch thereof. 

Art. 45. — On the confirmation or rejection of the officers to be appointed 
by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, the vote shall 
be taken by yeas and nays, and the names of the Senators voting for and 
against the appointments respectively shall be entered on the journals to 
be kept for the purpose and made public on or before the end of each 
session. 

Art. 46. — Returns of all elections for members of the General Assembly 
shall be made to the Secretary of State. 

Art. 4*7. — In the year in which a regular election for a Senator of the 
the United States is to take place, the members of the General Assembly 
shall meet inyfehe Hall of the House of Representatives on the second 
Monday following the meeting of the General Assembly and proceed to 
said ©lection. 

TITLE III.— EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS. 

Art. 48. — The supreme executive power of the State shall be vested in 
a Chief Magistrate, who shall be styled the Governor of the State of 
Louisiana. He shall hold his office during the term of four years, and 
together with the Lieutenant Governor, chosen for the same term, be 
elected as follows: The qualified electors for Representatives shall 
vote for Governor and Lieutenant Governor at the time and place of 
voting for Representatives ; the returns of every election shall be sealed 
up and transmitted by the proper returning officer to the Secretary of 
State, who shall deliver them to the Speaker of the House of Represen- 
tatives on the second clay of the session of the General Assembly then to 
be holden. The members of the General Assembly shall meet in the 
House of Representatives to examine and count the votes. The person 
having the greatest number of votes for Governor shall be declared duly 
elected; but in case of a tie vote between two or more candidates, one 
of them shall immediately be chosen Governor by joint vote of the 
members of the General Assembly. The person having the greatest num- 
ber of votes polled for Lieutenant Governor shall be Lieutenant Governor; 
but in case of a tie vote between two or more candidates one of them shall 
be immediately chosen Lieutenant Governor by joint vote of the members 
of the General Assembly. 



STATE OF LOUISIANA. 9 

Art. 49. — No person shall be eligible to the office of Governor or Lieu- 
tenant Governor who is not a citizen of the United States and a resident 
of this State two years next preceding his election. 

Art. 50. — The Governor whan be ineligible for the succeeding four years 
after the expiration of the time for which he shall have been elected. 

Art. 51. — The Governor shall enter on the discharge of his duties on 
the second Monday in January next ensuing iris election, and shall continue 
in office until the Monday next succeeding the day that his successor shall 
be declared duly elected, and shall have taken the oath or affirmation re- 
quired by the I lonstitul i m. 

Art. 52. — No Member. of Congress, or any person holding office under 
the United States Government, shall be eligible to the office of Governor 
or Lieutenant Governor. 

Art. 53. — In ease of impeachment of the Governor, his removal from 
office, death, refusal or inability to qualify; or to discharge the powers and 
duties of his office, resignation or absence from the State, the powers and 
duties of the office shall devolve upon the Lieutenant Governor for the 
residue of the term, or until the Governor, absent or impeached, shall re- 
turn or be acquitted, or the disability be removed. The General Assembly 
may provide by law for the case of removal, impeachment, death, resigna- 
tion, disability or refusal to qualify, of both the Governor and the Lieutenant 
Governor, declaring what officer shall act as Governor ; and such officer 
shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or for the remainder 
of the term. 

Art. 54. — The Lieutenant Governor or officer discharging the duties of 
Governor shall, during his administration, receive the same compensation 
to which the Governor would have been entitled had he continued in office. 

Art. 55. — The Lieutenant Governor shall, by virtue of his office, be Presi- 
dent of the Senate, but shall only vote when the Senate is equally divided. 
Whenever he shall administer the government, or shall be unable to attend 
as President of the Senate, the Senators shall elect one of their own mem- 
bers as President of the Senate for the time being. 

Art. 56. — The Governor shall receive a salary of eight thousand dollars 
per annum, payable quarterly on his own warrant. 

Art. 57. — The Lieutenant Governor shall receive a salary of three 
thousand dollars per annum, payable quarterly upon his own warrant. 

Art. 58. — The Governor shall have power to grant reprieves for all 
offenses against the State; and, except in cases of impeachment, shall, with 
the consent of the Senate, have power to grant pardons, remit fines and 
forfeitures, after conviction. In cases of treason, he may grant reprieves 
until the end of the next session of the General Assembly, in which the 
power of pardoning shall be vested. In cases when the punishment is not 
imprisonment at hard labor, the party upon being reprieved by the Gov- 
ernor, shall be released if in actual custody, until final action by the Senate. 

Art. 59 — He shall be Commander-in-Chief of the militia of this State, 
except when they shall be called into the service of the United States. 

Art. 60. — He shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of 
the Senate appoint all officers whose offices are established by the 
Constitution, and whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided 
for : Provided, however, That the General Assembly shall have a right to 
prescribe the mode of appointment to all other offices established by law. 

Art. 61. — The Governor shall have power to fill vacancies that may 
happen during the recess of the Seuate by granting commissions, which 
shall expire at the end of the next session thereof, unless otherwise 
provided for in this Constitution ; but no person who has been nominated 
for office and rejected by the Senate shall be appointed to the same office 
during the recess of the Senate. 2 



10 Qcmwnrurzois or ras 

Art. 62. — Ho may require information in writing from the officers in the 
the Exocutive Department upon any subject relating 1 to the duties of their 
respective offices. 

Art. 63. — He shall from time to time give the General Assembly infor- 
mation respecting the situation of the State, and recommend to their 
consideration such measures as he may deem expedient. 

Art. 64. — He may, on extraordinary occasions, convene the General 
Assembly at 'the seat of government, or at a different place if that should 
have become dangerous from an enemy or from epidemic; and in case of 
disagreement between the two Houses as to the time of adjournment, he 
may adjourn them to such time as he may think proper, not exceeding four 
months. 

Art. 65. — lie shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed. 

Art. 66.— Every bill which shall have passed both houses shall be 
presented to the Governor; if he approve, he shall sign it; if he do not, he- 
shall return it with his objections to the house in which it originated, 
which shall enter the objections at large upon its journal, and proceed to 
reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration two-thirds of all the members 
present in that house shall agree to pass the bi!!, it shall be sent with the 
objections to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered; 
and if approved by two-thirds of the members present in that house, it 
shall be a law. But in such cases the vote of both houses shall be deter- 
mined b} 5, yeas and nays, and the names of members voting for or against 
the bill shall be entered on the journal of each house respectively. If any 
hill shall not be returned by the Governor within five days after it shall 
have been presented to him, it shall be a law in like manner as if he had 
signed it; unless the General Assembly by adjournment prevent its return; 
in which case the said bill shall be returned on the first day of the meeting 
of the General Assembly after the expiration of said five days, or be a 
law. 

Art. 67. — Every order, resolution or vote, to which the concurrence of 
both houses mayjbe necessary, except on a question of adjournment, shall 
be presented to the Governor; and before it shall take effect, be approved 
by him, or, being disapproved, shall bo repassed by two-thirds of the 
members present. 

Art. 63. — There shall be a Secretary of State, who shall hold his office 
during the term for which the Governor shall have been elected. The 
records of the State shall be kept and preserved in the office of the Sec- 
retary; he shall keep a fair register of the official acts and proceedings 
of the Governor, and when necessary shall attest them; he shall, when 
required, lay the said register, and all papers, minutes and vouchers, rela- 
tive to his office, before either House of the General Assembly, and shall 
perform such other duties as may be enjoined on him by law. 

Art. 69. — There shall be a Treasurer of the State, and an Auditor of 
Public Accounts, who shall hold their respective offices during the term of 
four years. At the first election under this Constitution, the Treasurer 
shall be elected for two years. 

Art. 70. — The Secretary of State, Treasurer, and Auditor of Public 
Accounts, shall be elected by the qualified electors of the State; and in 
case of any vacancy caused by the resignation, death, or absence of the 
Secretary, Treasurer, or Auditor, the Governor shall order an election to 
fill said vacancies; Provided, The unexpired term to be filled be more than 
twelve months. When otherwise, the Governor shall appoint a person to 
perform the duties of the office thus vacant until the ensuing genaral 
election. 

Art. 71.— Tha Treasurer, and tba Auditor, shall receive e. salary of fivo 



STATE «F X0C9SX&X&. 11 

thousand dollars per annum each. Tho Secretary of State shall receiva a 
salary of three thousand dollars per annum. 

Aut. 72. — All commissions shall bo in the name, and by tho authority of 
tho State of Louisiana; and shall bo sealed with the State seal, signed- by 
the Governor, and countersigned by the Secretary of State. 
TITLE IV.- JUDICIARY DEPARTMENT. 

Art. 73. — The judicial power shall bo vested in a Supreme Court, m. 
District Courts, in Parish Courts and in Justices of the Peace. 

Art. 74. — The Supreme Court, except in cases hereinafter provided, 
shall have appellate jurisdiction only ; which jurisdiction shall extend to 
all case3 when the matter in dispute shall exceed five hundred dollars ; 
and to all cases in which the constitutionality or legality of any tax, toll 
or impost of any kind or nature whatsoever, or any fine, forfeiture or pen- 
alty imposed by a municipal corporation shall be in contestation, whatever 
may bo the amount thereof ; and in such cases the appeal shall be direct 
from the court in which tho case originated, to the Supreme Court; and in 
criminal cases, on questions of law only, whenever the punishment of death, 
or imprisonment at hard labor, or a fine exceeding 1 three hundred dollars, 
ig actually imposed. 

Art. 75. — The Supreme Court shall be composed of one Chief Justice, 
and four Associate Justices, a majority of whom shall constitute a quorum. 
The Chief Justico shall receive a salary of seven thousand five hundred 
dollars, and each of the Associate Justices a salary of seven thousand 
dollars annually, payable quarterly on their own warrants. The Chief 
Justice and the Associate Justices shall be appointed by the Governor, 
with the advice and consent of the Senate, for the term of eight years. 
They shall be citizens of the United States, and shall have practiced law 
for five years, the last three thereof next preceding their appointment, in 
the State. The Court shall appoint its own clerks, and may remove them 
at pleasure. 

Art. 16. — The Supreme Court shall hold its sessions in the city of New 
Orleans from the first Monday in the mouth of November to the end of tha 
month of May. The General Assembly shall have power to fix the sessions 
elsewhere during the rest of the year ; until otherwise provided, the sessions 
shall be held as heretofore. 

Art. 77. — The Supreme Court, and each of the judges thereof, shall havo 
power to issue writs of habeas corpus, at the instance of persons in actual 
custody, in cases when they may have appellate jurisdiction. 

Art. 78. — No judgment shall be rendered by the Supreme Court, with' 
out a concurrence of a majority composing the court. Whenever the ma- 
jority cannot concur, iu consequence of the recusation of any member of 
the court, the judges not recused shall have power to call upon any judge 
or judges of the District Courts, whose duty it shall be, when so called 
upon, to preside in the place of the judge or judges recused, and to aid ia 
determining the case. 

Art. 79. — All judges, by virtue of their office, shall be conservators of 
the peace throughout the State. The style of all processes shall be " The 
State of Louisiana." All prosecutions shall be carried on in the name and 
by the authority of the State of Louisiana, and conclude "Against the 
peace and dignity of the same." 

Art. 80. — The judges of all courts, whenever practicable, shall refer to 
the law, in virtue of which every definitive judgment is rendered ; but in 
all cases they shall adduce the reasons on which their judgment is 
founded. 

Art. 81. — The judges of all courts shall be liable to impeachment for 
crimes and misdemeanors For any reasonable cause the Governor shall 



12 CONSTITUTION OF THE 

remove any of them, on the address of two-thirds of the members elected 
to each house of the General Assembly. In every such case the cause or 
causes for which such removal may be required, shall be stated at length 
in the address, and inserted in the journal of each house. 

Art. 82. — No duties or functions shall ever be attached by law to the 
Supreme or District Courts or the several judges thereof, but such as are 
judicial; and the said judges are prohibited from receiving any fees of 
office, or other compensation than their salaries, for any official duties per- 
formed by them. 

Art. 83. — The General Assembly shall divide the State into judicial dis- 
tricts, which shall remain unchanged for four years, and for each district 
court, one judge, learned in the law, shall be elected for each district, by a 
plurality of the qualified electors thereof. For each district there shall be 
one district court, except in the parish of Orleans, in which the General 
Assembly may establish as many district courts as the public interests 
may require. Until otherwise provided, there shall be seven district 
courts for the parish of Orleans, with the following original jurisdiction : 
the first, exclusive criminal jurisdiction; the second, exclusive probate ju- 
risdiction; the third, exclusive jurisdiction of appeals from justices of the 
peace; the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh district courts, exclusive juris- 
diction in all civil cases, except probate, when the sum in contest is above 
one hundred dollars, exclusive of interest. These seven courts shall als© 
have such further jurisdiction, not inconsistent herewith, as shall be con- 
ferred by law. 

The number of districts in the State shall not be less than twelve nor 
more than twenty. The clerks of the district courts shall be elected by 
the qualified electors of their respective parishes, and shall hold their office 
for four years. 

Art. 84. — Each of said judges shall receive a salary to be fixed bylaw, 
which shall not be increased or diminished during his term of office, and 
shall never be less than five thousand dollars. He must be a citizen of 
the United States, over the age of twenty-five years, and have resided in 
the State and practiced law therein for the space of two years next pro- 
ceding his election. The judges of the district courts shall hold their 
office for the term of four years. 

Art. 85. — The district courts shall have original jurisdiction in all 
civil cases when the amount in dispute exceeds five hundred dollars ex- 
clusive of interest. In criminal cases their jurisdiction shall bo unlim- 
ited. They shall have appellate jurisdiction in civil ordinary suits when 
the amount in dispute exceeds one hundred dollars exclusive of interest. 

Art. 86. — For each parish court one judge shall be elected by the qual- 
ified electors of the parish. He shall hold his office for the term of two 
years. He shall receive a salary and fees to be provided by law. Until 
otherwise provided, each parish judge shall receive a salary of one thou- 
sand two hundred dollars per annum and such fees as are established by 
law for clerks of district courts. He shall be a citizen of the United 
States and of this State. 

Art. 87. — The parish courts shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the 
justices of the peace in all cases when the amount in controversy is more 
than twenty-five dollars and less than one hundred dollars, exclusive of 
interest. They shall have exclusive original jurisdiction in ordinary suits 
jn all cases when the amount in dispute exceeds one hundred dollars and 
does not exceed five hundred dollars; subject to an appeal to the district 
court in all cases when the amount in contestation exceeds one hundred 
dollars, exclusive of interest. Ml successions shall be opened and settled 
in the parish courts; and aj] $%\tfi jfl winch a succession is cither plaintiff 



STATE OF LOUISIANA. 13 

or defendant, may be brought either in the parish or district court, accord- 
ing to the amount involved. In criminal matters the parish comes shall 
have jurisdiction in oil cases when the penalty is not necessarily imprison- 
ment at hard labor or death, and when the accused shall waive trial by 
firry. They shall also have the power of committing magistrates, and such 
other jurisdiction as may be conferred on them by law. There .shall be no 
trial by jury before the parish courts. 

Art. 88. — In all probate matters when the amount in dispute shall ex- 
ceed live hundred dollars, exclusive of interest, the appeal shall be directly 
from the parish to the Supreme Court. 

Art. 89. — The justices of the peace shall be elected by the electors of 
each parish, in the manner to be provided by the General Assembly. They 
shall hold office for the term of two years, and their compensation shall be 
Ji>:ed by law. Their jurisdiction in civil cases shall not exceed one huu- 
dred dollars, exclusive of interest, subject to an appeal to the parish court, 
in all cases when the amount in dispute shall exceed ten dollars, exclusive 
of interest They shall have such criminal jurisdiction as shall be pro- 
vided for by law. 

Art. 90. — In amy case when the judge may be recused, and when he is 
not personally interested in the matters in contestation, he shall select a 
lawyer, having the qualifications required for a judge of his court, to try 
such cases. And when the judge is personally interested in the suit, he 
shall call upon the parish or district judge, as the case may be, to try the 
case. 

Art. 91. — The General Assembly shall have power to vest in the parish 
judges the right to grant such orders and to do such acts as may be 
deemed necessary for the furtherance of the administration of justice; and 
in all cases the power thus granted shall be specified and determined. 

Art. 92. — There shall be an Attorney General for the State, who shall 
be elected by the qualified electors of the State at large. He shall receive 
a salary of five thousand dollars per annum, payable quarterly on his own 
warrant, and shall hold his office for four years. There shall be a District 
Attorney for each judicial district of the State, who shall be elected by the 
qualified electors of the judicial district, lie shall receive a salary of 
fifteen hundred dollars, payable quarterly on his own warrant, and shall 
bold his office for four years. 

Art. 93. — There shall be a Sheriff and Coroner elected by the qualified 
electors of each parish, except the parish of Orleans. In the parish of Or- 
leans, there shall be elected by the qualified electors of the parish at barge 
one sheriff for the criminal court, who shall be the executive officer of said 
court, and shall have charge of the parish prison. There shall also be 
elected by the qualified electors of the parish at large, one sheriff who shall 
be the executive officer of the civil courts, and who shall perform all other 
duties heretofore devolving upon the sheriff of the parish of Orleans, ex- 
cept those herein delegated to the sheriff of the criminal court. The quali- 
fied electors of the city of New Orleans, residing below the middle of 
Canal street, shall elect one coroner for that district, and the qualified elec- 
tors of the city of New Orleans, residing above the middle of Canal street, 
together with those residing in that part of the parish known as Orleans, 
right bank, shall elect one coroner for that district. All of said officers 
shall hold their office for two years, and receive such fees of office as may 
be prescribed by law. 

Art. 94. — No judicial powers, except as committing magistrates in 
criminal cases, shall be conferred on any officers other than those men- 
tioned in this title; except such as may be necessary in towns and cities; 
and the judicial powers of such offices shall not extend further than the 



14 cossmmiosr or the 

cognizance of cases arising tinder the police regulations of towns and cities 
in the State. In any case where such officers shall assume jurisdiction 
over other matters than those which may arise under police regulations, or 
under their jurisdiction, as committing magistrates, they shall be liable 
to an action of damages in favor of the party injured, or his heirs; and a 
verdict in favor of the party injured shall, ipsa facto, operate a vacation of 
the office of said officer. 

TITLE V.— IMPEACHMENT. 

Art. 95.— The power of impeachment shall be vested in the Houso of 
Representatives. 

Art. 96.— Impeachments of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney 
General, Secretary of State, Auditor of Public Accounts, State Treasurer, 
Superintendent of Public Education, and of the judges of the inferior 
courts, justices of the peace excepted, shall be tried by the Senate; the 
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, or the senior associate judge thereof, 
shall preside during the trial of such impeachments. Impeachments of 
the judges of the Supreme Court shall be tried by the Senate. When 
sitting as a court of impeachment, the Senators shall be upon oath or 
affirmation, and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of 
two-thirds of the Senators present. 

Art 97. — Judgments in cases of impeachment shall extend only to 
removal from office, and disqualification from holding any office of honor, 
trust, or profit in the State; but the convicted parties shall, nevertheless, 
b« subject to indictment, trial and punishment, according to law. 
TITLE VL-GENERAL PROVISIONS. 

Act 98. — Every male person, of the ago of twenty-one years or up* 
wards, born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the juris* 
diction thereof, and a resident of this State one year next preceding an 
election, and the last ten clays within the parish in which he offers to vote, 
.shall be deemed an elector, except those disfranchised by this Constitution, 
and persons uncler interdiction. 

Art. 99. The following persons shall be prohibited from voting and 
holding any office: All persons who shall have been convicted of treason, 
perjury, forgery, bribery, or other crime punishable in the penitentiary, 
and persons under interdiction. All persons who are estopped from claim- 
ing the right of suffrage, by abjuring their allegiance to the United States 
Government, or by notoriously levying war against it, or adhering to its 
enemies, giving them aid or comfort, but who have not expatriated them- 
selves, nor have been convicted of any of the crimes mentioned in 
the first paragraph of this article, are hereby restored to the said right, 
except the following : Those who held office, civil or military, for one 
year or more, under the organization styled "the Confederate States of 
America;" those who registered themselves as enemies of the United States; 
those who acted as leaders of guerrilla bands during the late rebellion; 
those who, in the advocacy of treason, wrote or published newspaper arti- 
cles or preached sermons during the late rebellion; and those who voted 
for and signed an ordinance of secession in any State. No person included 
in these exceptions shall either vote or hold office until he shall have 
relieved himself by voluntarily writing and signing a certificate setting 
forth that he acknowledges the late rebellion*to have been morally and 
politically wrong, and that he regrets any aid and comfort he may have 
given it; and he shall file the certificate in the office of the Secretary of 
State, and it shall be published in the official journal. Provided, That no 
person who, prior to the first of January eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, 
favored the execution of the laws of the United States, popularly known 






STATE OF LOUISIANA. 15 

as the Reconstruction Acts of Congress, and openly and actively assisted 
the loyal men of the State in their efforts to restore Louisiana to her posi- 
tion in the Union, shall be held to be included among those herein excepted. 
Registrars <>f voters shall take the oath of any such person as prima facie 
evidence of the fact that he is entitled to the benefit of this proviso. 

Art. 100. — Members of the General Assembly, and all other officers, be- 
fore they enter upon the duties of their offices shall take the following 
oath or affirmation: "I, (A. B.), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that 1 ao 
cept the civil and political equality of all men, and agree not to attempt 
to deprive any person or parsons, on account of race, color, or previ >us 
condition, of any political or civil right, privilege, or immunity enjoyed 
by any other class of man; that I will support the Constitution and laws 
of the United States, and the Constitution and laws of this State, and that 
I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties iu» 
cumbent on me as — — — according to the best of my ability and under- 
standing. So help me God." 

Art. 101. — Treason against the State shall consist only in levying war 
against it or in adhering to its enemies — giving them aid and comfort. 
No person shall bz convicted of treason except on the testimony of two 
witnesses to the same overt act, or on his confession in open court. 

Art. 102. — All penalties shall be proportioned to the nature of the 
offense. 

Art. 103. — The privilege of free suffrage shall be supported by laws 
regulating elections and prohibiting under adequate penalties all undue 
influence thereon from power, bribery, tumult, or other improper practice. 

Art. 104. — No money shall be, drawn from the treasury but in pursu- 
ance of specific appropriations made by law. A statement and account 
of receipts and expenditures of all public moneys shall be made annually 
in such manner as shall be prescribed by law; and the first General As- 
sembly convening under this Constitution shall make a special appropria- 
tion to liquidate whatever portion of the debt of this Convention may at 
. that time remain unpaid or unprovided for. 

Art. 105. — All civil officers of the State at large shall be voters of and 
reside within the State; and all district or parish officers shall reside within, 
their respective districts or parishes, and shall keep their offices at such 
place therein as may be required by law. 

Art. 106. — All civil officers shall be removable by an address of two- 
thirds of the members elect to each House of the General Assembly, except 
those whose removal is otherwise provided for by this Constitution. 

Art. 107. — In all elections by the people the vote shall be taken by 
ballot; and in all elections by the Senate and House of Representatives, 
jointly or separately, the vote shall be given viva voce. 

Art. 108. — None but citizens of the United States and of this State shall 
be appointed to any office of trust or profit in this State. 

Art. 109. — The laws, public records, and the judicial and legislative 
proceedings of the State shall be promulgated and preserved in the 
English language; and no law shall require judicial process to be issued 
in any other than the English language. 

Art. 110. — No ex post facto or retroactive law, nor any law impairing tho 
obligation of contracts shall be passed; nor vested rights be divested, 
unless for purposes of public utility and for adequate compensation mado. 

Art. 111. — Whenever the General Assembly shall contract a debt 
exceeding in amount the sum of one hundred thousand dollars, unless in 
ease of war to repel invasion or suppress insurrection, it shall, in the law 
creating the debt, provide adequate ways and means for the payment of 
tho current interest and of the principal when the same shall become due; 



16 CONSTITUTION OF THE 

and the said law shall be irrepealable until principal and interest be fully- 
paid; or unless the repealing- law contain some adequate provision for the 
payment of the principal and interest of the debt. ' 

Art. 112. — The General Assembly shall provide by law for all change 
of venue in civil and criminal cases. 

Art. 113. — The General Assembly may enact general laws regulating 
the adoption of children, emancipation of minors, and the granting of 
divorces; but no special law shall be passed relating- to particular or 
individual cases. 

Art. 114.— Every law shall express its object or objects in its title. 

Art. 115. — No law shall be revived or amended by reference to its title ; 
but in such case the revived or amended section shall be re-enacted and 
published at length. 

Art. 116. — The General Assembly shall never adopt any system or eodd 
of laws bj^ general reference to such system or code of laws ; but in all 
cases shall specify the several pi-ovisions of the law it may enact. 

Art. 111. — No person shall hold or exercise, at the same time, more 
than one office of trust or profit, except that of justice of the peace, or 
notary public. 

Art. 118/ — Taxation shall be equal and uniform throughout the State. 
All property shall be taxed in proportion to its value, to be ascertained as 
directed by law. The General Assembly shall have power to exempt from 
taxation property actually used for church, school or charitable purposes. 
The General Assembly may levy an income tax upon all persons pursuing 
any occupation, trade, or calling. And all such persons shall obtain a 
license, as provided by law. All tax on iflcome shall be pro rata on the 
amount of income, or business done. And all deeds of sale made, or that 
may be made by collectors of taxes, shall be received by courts in evidence 
as prima facie valid sales. The General Assembly shall levy a poll tax on 
all male inhabitants of this State, over twenty-one years old, for school 
and charitable purposes, which tax shall never exceed one dollar and fifty 
cents per annum.-- 

Art. 119. — No liability, either State, parochial, or municipal, shall exist 
for any debts contracted for, or in the interest of the rebellion against the 
United States Government. 

Art. 120. — The General Assembly may determine the mode of filling 
vacancies in all offices for which provision is not mad® in this Consti- 
tution. 

Art. 121. — The General Assembly shall pass no law requiring a prop- 
erty qualification for office. 

Art. 122. — All officers shall continue to discharge the duties of their 
offices until their successors shall have been inducted into office; except 
in cases of impeachment or suspension. 

Art. 12o. — The General Assembly shall provide for the protection of the 
rights of married women to their dotal and paraphernal property, and for 
the registration of the same; but no mortgage or privilege shall hereafter 
affect third parties unless recorded in the parish where the property to be 
affected is situated. The tacit mortgages and privileges now existing in 
this State shall cease to have effect against third persons after the first 
day of January, eighteen hundred and seventy, unless duly recorded. The 
General Assembly shall provide by law for the registration of all mort- 
gages and privileges. 

Art. 124. — The General Assembly, at its first session under this Con- 
stitution, shall provide an annual pension for the veterans of eighteen 
hundred and fourteen, and eighteen hundred and fiftoen, residing in the 
State. 



STATE OP LOUISIANA. 17 

Art. 125. — The military shall be in subordination to the civil power. 

Art. 126. — It shall be the duty of the General Assembly to make it 
obligatory upon each parish to support all paupers residing within its 
limits. 

Art. 12T. — All agreements, the consideration of which was Confederate 
money, notes or bonds, are null and void; and shall not be enforced by 
the courts of this State. 

Art. 128. — Contracts for the sale of persons are null and void; and shall 
not be enforced by the courts of this State. 

Art. 129. — The State of Louisiana shall never assume nor pay any debt 
or obligation contracted or incurred in aid of the rebellion; nor shall this 
State ever, in any manner, claim from the United States, or make, any 
allowance or compensation for slaves emancipated or liberated in any way 
whatever. 

Art. 130. — All contracts made and entered into under the pretended au- 
thority of any government heretofore existing in this State, by which 
children were bound out without the knowledge or consent of their parents, 
are hereby declared null and void ; nor shall any child be bound out to any 
one for any term of years, while either one of its parents live, without the 
consent of such parent, except in cases of children legally sent to the 
house of correction. 

Art. 131. — The seat of government shall be established at the city of 
New Orleans, and shall not be removed without the consent of two-thirds 
of the members of both houses of the General Assembly. 

Art. 182. — All lands sold in pursuance of decrees of courts shall be 
divided into tracts of from ten to fifty acres. 

Art. 133. — No judicial powers shall be exercised by clerks of courts. 

Art. 134. — No soldier, sailor, or marine in the military or naval service 
of the United States shall hereafter acquire a residence in this State by 
reason of being stationed or doing duty in the same. 

TITLE VIL— PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

Art. 135. — The General Assembly shall establish at least one free pub- 
lic school in every parish throughout the State, and shall provide for its 
support by taxation or otherwise. All children of this State between the 
ages of six (6) and twenty-one (21) shall be admitted to the public 
schools or other institutions of learning sustained or established by the 
State in common without distinction of race, color, or previous condition. 
There shall be no separate schools or institutions of learning established 
exclusively for any race by the State of Louisiana. 

Art. 136. — No municipal corporation shall make any rules or regula- 
tions contrary to the spirit and intention of article one hundred and thirty- 
five (135). 

Art. 137. — There shall be elected by the qualified voters of this State 
a Superintendent of Public Education, who shall hold his office for four 
years. His duties shall be prescribed by law, and he shall have the super- 
vision and the general control of all public schools throughout the State, 
He shall receive a salary of five thousand dollars per annum, payable 
quarterly on his own warrant. 

Art. 138. — The general exercises in the public schools shall be con- 
ducted in the English language. 

Art. 139. — The proceeds of all lands heretofore granted by the United 
States for the use and support of public schools, and of all lands or other 
property which may hereafter be bequeathed for that purpose, and of all 
lands which may be granted or bequeathed to the State, and not granted 
or bequeathed expressly for any other purpose which may hereafter be 

3 



IS CONSTITUTION OF THE 

disposed of by the State, and the proceeds of all estates of deceased 
persons to which the State may be entitled by law, shall be held by the 
State as a loan, and shall be and remain a perpetual fund on which the 
State shall pay an annual interest, of six per cent, which interest, with 
the interest of the trust fund deposited with this State by the United 
States, under the act of Congress, approved June the twenty-third, eigh- 
teen hundred and thirty-six, and the rent of the unsold lands, shall be appro- 
priated to the support of such schools; and this appropriation shall remain 
inviolable. 

Art. 140. — No appropriation shall be made by the General Assembly for 
the support of any private school, or any private institution of learning- 
whatever. 

Art. 141. — One-half of the funds derived from the poll-tax herein 
provided for shall be appropriated exclusively to the support of the free 
public schools throughout the State, and the University of New Orleansf 

Art. 142. — A University shall be established and maintained in the city 
of New Orleans. It shall be composed of a law, a medical, and a colle- 
giate department, each with appropriate faculties. The General Assembly 
shall provide by law for its organization and maintenance; Provided, That 
all departments of this institution of learning shall be opened in common 
to. all students capable of matriculating. No rules or regulations shall be 
made by the trustees, faculties, or other officers of said institution of learn- 
ing, nor shall any laws be made by the General Assembly violating the 
letter or spirit of the articles under this title. 

Art. 143. — Institutions for the support of the insane, the education and 
support of the blind and the deaf and dumb shall always bo fostered by 
the State, and be subject to such regulations as may be prescribed by the 
General Assembly. 

TITLE VIII.— MILITIA. 

Art. 144. — It shall be the duty of the General Assembly to organize the 
militia of the State ; and all able bodied male citizens, between the ages of 
eighteen and forty-five years, not disfranchised by the laws of the United 
States, and of this State, shall be subject to military duty. 

Art. 145. — The Governor shall appoint all commissioned officers, subject 
to confirmation or rejection by the Senate, except the staff officers, who 
shall be appointed by their respective chiefs, and commissioned by the 
Governor. All militia officers shall take and subscribe to the oath pre- 
scribed for officers of the United States army, and the oath prescribed for 
officers in this State. 

Art. 146. — The Governor shall have power to call the militia into active 
service for the preservation of law and order, or when the public safety may 
require it. The militia when in active service shall receive the same pay 
and allowances as officers and privates as is received by officers and prir 
vates in the United States army. 

TITLE IX.-- MODE OF REVISING THE CONSTITUTION. 
Art. 141. — Any amendment or amendments to this Constitution may 
be proposed in the Senate or House of Representatives, and if the same 
shall be agreed to by two-thirds of the members elected to each house, such 
proposed amendment or amendments shall be entered on their respective 
journals, with the yeas and nays taken thei'eon; and the Secretary of State 
shall cause the same to be published three months beforo the next general 
election for Representatives to the General Assembly, in at least one news- 
paper in every parish of the State in which a newspaper shall be published. 
And such proposed amendment or amendments shall be submitted to the 
people at said election; and if a majority of the voters at said election shall 



STATE OF LOUISIANA. 19 

approve and ratify such amendment or amendments, the same shall become 
a part of this Constitution. If more than one amendment shall be submit- 
ted at one time, they shall be submitted in such manner and form that the 
people may vote for or against each amendment separately. 
TITLE X.— SCHEDULE. 

Art. 148. — The ordinance of secession of the State of Louisiana, passed 
twenty-sixth of January, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, is hereby declared 
tu be null and void. The Constitution adopted in eighteen hundred'and 
sixty-four, and all previous constitutions in the State of Louisiana, are de- 
clared to be superseded by this Constitution. 

Art. 149. — All rights, actions, prosecutions, claims, contracts, and all 
laws in force at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, and not in- 
consistent therewith, shall continue as if it had not been adopted; all 
judgments and judicial sales, marriages, and executed contracts made in 
good faith, and in accordance with existing laws in this State, rendered, 
made, or entered into, between the twenty-sixth day of January, eighteen 
hundred and sixty-one, and the date when this Constitution shall be adopt- 
ed, are hereby declared to be valid, except the following laws : 

"An Act to authorize the widening of the New Canal and Basin." Ap- 
proved March fourteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven. 

"An Act to amend and re-enact the one hundred and twenty-first section 
of an Act entitled 'An Act relative to Crimes and Offenses.' " Approved 
December twentieth, eighteen hundred and sixty-five. 

"An Act for the punishment of Persons for tampering with, persuading, 
or enticiug away, harboring, feeding or secreting Laborers, Servants or 
Apprentices." Approved December twenty-first, eighteen hundred and 
sixty-five. 

. "An Act to punish, in certain cases, the Employers of Laborers and 
Apprentices." Approved December twenty-first, eighteen hundred and 
sixty-five. 

"An Act in relation to exemption from State, Parish and City taxes, for 
the years eighteen hundred and sixty-two, eighteen hundred and sixty- 
three, eighteen hundred and sixty-four and eighteen hundred and sixty-five, 
in certain cases." Certified sixteenth March, eighteen hundred and sixty- 
six. 

"An Act granting Ferry Privileges to C. K. Marshall, his heirs or 
assigns." Approved March tenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six. 

"An Act to authorize the Board of Levee Commissioners, of the Levee 
District in the parishes of Madison and Carroll, to issue bonds," etc., etc. 
Approved March twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven. 

Section third of "An Act to organize the Police of New Orleans, and to 
create a Police Board therein." Approved twelfth of February, eighteen 
hundred and sixty-six. 

Art. 150. — The laws relative to the duties of officers shall remain in 
force, though contrary to this Constitution, and the several duties be per- 
formed by the respective officers, until the organization of the government 
under this Constitution. 

Art. 151. — The General Assembly shall provide for the removal of 
causes now pending in the courts of this State to courts created by or 
under this Constitution. 

TITLE XI— ORDINANCE. 

Art. 152. — Immediately upon the adjournment of this Convention this 
Constitution shall be submitted for ratification to the registered voters of 
the Staffe in conformity to the Act of Congress passed March second, 
eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, entitled "An Act to provide for the 



20 CONSTITUTION OF THE 

more efficient government of the rebel States," and the acts supplementary 
thereto. 

Art. 153. — The election for the ratification of the Constitution shall 
be held on Friday and Saturday, the seventeenth and eighteenth days of 
April, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, at the places now prescribed by 
law; and the polls shall be kept open from seven o'clock A. M., to seven 
o'clock P. M. At that election all those in favor of ratifying the Constitu- 
tion shall have written or printed on their ballots "For the Constitution;" 
and those opposed to ratifying the Constitution shall have written or 
printed on their ballots "Against the Constitution." 

Art. 154. — In order to establish a civil government, as required by act 
of Congress, passed March twenty-third, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, 
an election shall be held at the same time and place at which the Constitu- 
tion is submitted for ratification, for all State, judicial, parish, and mu- 
nicipal officers, for members of the General Assembly and for Congres- 
sional Representatives, at which election the electors who are qualified 
under the Reconstruction acts of Congress shall vote, and none others : 
Provided, That any elector shall be eligible to any office under any mu- 
nicipal corporation in this State. 

Art. 155. — At the election for the ratification of the Constitution, and 
for officers of the civil government, as required by Congress, all regis- 
tered electors may vote in any parish where they have resided for ten days 
next preceding said election, and at any precinct in the parish, upon pre- 
sentation of their certificates of registration, affidavit or other satisfactory 
evidence that they are entitled to vote as registered electors. 

Art. 156. — The same registrars and commissioners who shall be appointed 
by the Commanding General of the Fifth Military District, to superintend 
the election for the ratification or rejection of the Constitution, shall, also, 
at the same time and place, superintend the election for all officers and 
Representatives herein ordered; Provided, They be authorized so to act 
by the Commanding General. And in case the Commanding General 
should not so authorize said registrars and commissioners, the Committee 
of Seven, appointed by this Convention to take charge of the whole matter 
of the ratification of the Constitution and the election of civil officers, shall 
appoint one registrar for each parish in the State, except the parish of 
Orleans, and one in each district of the parish of Orleans, counting Orleans 
Right Bank as one district, who shall, each in his parish or district, ap- 
point a sufficient number of commissioners of election to hold the said 
election for said civil officers and Representatives, at the same time and 
place as herein provided for. 

Art. 151. — Returns shall be made in duplicate, sworn to by the com- 
missioners holding the election, and forwarded within three days thereafter, 
to the registrars of the parish or district. The registrars shall immediately 
forward one copy of said returns to the Chairman of the Committee of 
Seven appointed by this Convention, who shall, within ten days after the 
last return has been received, make proclamation of the result of said 
election. 

Art. 158. — All civil officers thus elected shall enter upon the discharge 
of their duties on the second Monday after the return of their election shall 
have been officially promulgated, or as soon as qualified according to law, 
and shall continue in office for the terms of their respective offices herein 
prescribed, said terms to date from the first Monday in November follow- 
ing the election. 

Art. 159. — The General Assembly elected under this Constitution shall 
hold its first session in the city of New Orleans on the third Monday after 
the official promulgation aforesaid, and proceed immediately upon its organ- 



STATE OF LOUISIANA. 



21 



ization, to vote upon the adoption of the fourteenth amendment to the 
Constitution of the United States, proposed by Congress, and passed June 
thireeenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six; said General Assembly shall 
not have power to enact any laws relative to the per diem of members, or 
any other subject, after organization, until said constitutional amendment 
shall have been acted upon. 

Art. 160. — All registrars and commissioners appointed under this Con- 
stitution shall, before entering upon their duties, take and subscribe the 
oath of office prescribed by Congress, approved July second, eighteen hun- 
dred and sixty two, entitled "An Act to prescribe an oath of office;" the 
said oath of office shall be administered to each registrar by the 
Chairman of the Committee of Seven and to each commissioner by the 
registrar appointing him. 

Art. 161. — All registrars, commissioners, and other officers, necessary 
to carry into effect the provisions of this ordinance, except as otherwise 
provided for by the Reconstruction Acts of Congress, shall be paid out of 
any funds raised by virtue of the Tax Ordinance, adopted by the Conven- 
tion, December twenty-fourth, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, not 
otherwise appropriated. 

JAMES G. TALIAFERRO, President, 



C. C. ANTOINE. 

L. W. BAKER. 

S. BELDEN. 

A. BERTONNEAU. 

W. JASPER BLACKBURN. 

O. C. BLANDIN. 

HY. BONSEIGNEUR. 

EMILE BONNEFOI. 

WM. BROWN. 

DENNIS BURRBL. 

WM. BUTLER. 

W. R. CRANE. 

R. I. CROMWELL. 

SAMUEL E. CUNEY. 

A. J. DEMAREST. 

CHARLES DEPASSEAU. 

P. G. DESLONDE. 

JOS. DESLONDE. 

AUG. DONATO, JR. 

DAVID DOUGLAS. 

GUSTAVE DUPART. 

ULGER DUPART. 

C. B. H. DUPLESSIS. 

J. B. ESNARD. 

LOUIS FRANCOIS. 

HY. W. FULLER. 

JOHN GAIR. 

R. G. GARDINER. 

LEOPOLD GUICHARD. 

PETER HARPER. 

JOHN S. HARRIS. 

0. H. HEMPSTEAD. 

W. H. HIESTAND. 

J. H. INGRAHAM. 

R. H. ISABELLE. 



J. B. LEWIS. 
RICHARD LEWIS. 
JOHN LYNCH. 
FREDERICK MARIE. 
THOS. M. MARTIN. 
J. A. MASSICOT. 
WM. R. MEADOWS. 
BENJ. McLERAN. 
W. L. McMILLEN. 
MILTON MORRIS. 
S. R. MOSES. 
WM. MURREL. 
JAMES MUSHAWAY. 
THEOPHILE MAHIER. 
J. P. NEWSHAM. 
JOS. C. OLIVER. 
S. B. PACKARD. 
JOHN PIERCE. 
P.B.S.PINCHBACK. 
ROBERT POINDEXTER. 
CURTIS POLLARD. 
GEO. W. REAGAN. 
DANIEL H. REESE. 
FORTUNE RIARD. 

D. D. RIGGS. 

J. A. H. ROBERTS. 
L. RODRIGUEZ. 
N. SCHWAB. 
CHARLES SMITH. 
SOSTHENE SNAER. 
HIRAM R. STEELE. 
CHAS. H. THIBAUT. 

E. D. TINCHANT. 
M. H. TWITCHELL. 
NAPOLEON UNDERWOOD. 



22 CONSTITUTION, ETC. 

THOS. ISABELLE. P. F. VALFROIT. 

GEO. H. JACKSON. JOHN B. VANDERGRIEFF. 

SIMON J ONES. MICHEL VIDAL. 

GEO. Y. KELSO. RUFUS WAPLES. 

JAMES H. LANDERS. G. M. WICKLIFFE. 

VICTOR M. LANGE. HENDERSON WILLIAMS. 

CHAS. LEROY. DAVID WILSON. 

Attest: WM. VIGERS, Secretary. 

New Orleans, La., March 1], 1868. 
I certify that the foregoing is a correct copy of the Constitution as 
taken from the official records of the Convention. 

HUGH J. CAMPBELL, Minute Clerk. * 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

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